Jeremy: A Christmas Story; Part 2

At the end of the day, he came over to Jeramie and all he said was up, Jeremy got up, follow me, he followed them down 100 tables. Sit down, you're a heel man. Jeremy had been made a heel man after four months. It had never happened. But months went by. He became a heel man, toe man, sole man, bow man, stitch man. And finally, after two and a half years, the owner brought him down and sat Jeremy down. He was at the 400 table. He was with the master shoemakers, all very old men. No one had ever done that. In two and a half years that night, Jeremy had made 50 pennies in a single day. He ran down the stairs. He was going to go to the shop, but he had to find out. But he ran through the streets and he finally found Edward, the beggar boy, the snow swirling around Edward. He was underneath a street lamp and Edward's voice seemed almost gone. Please give me a penny. Thank you, sir. Haku, please give me a penny for a Jeremy. Edward, Edward.

Look, I got a son for you here. Gold coin. Thank you, Jeremy. Come on. We're going to do all right. Jeremy. They stood. It was as merry as ever. But Edward wasn't the same. He was gray and thin and he looked like it shrunk. But Jeremy brought him back and he put Edward up. They stayed together in that room for the month, but Edward got weaker and weaker. Finally, Edward could barely get out of the bed, he slept most of the day, Jeremy did nothing until one day he was just finishing a boat and he put the boot down. Jeremy was barely aware that he was walking down the aisle to the hard one. Sir, I've got a sick friend and I think he needs a doctor. So I'm going to leave early today. Everybody listen to him. He's going to leave. He's telling me you leave early, all right? You do it twice, Jeremy, and you're fired. I don't care how good you are. Get out.

Jeremy got the doctor and the doctor. He said, Jeremy, your friend. I don't think your last three weeks. Edwards got consumption. The best thing is if you could be with him, so when he wakes, he'll have someone. Well, Jeremy didn't stay with him. He had to work, of course, 10 days before Christmas. Jeremy was working on a boat and he looked at one of the old master shoemakers and he shook his head, put the boot down, and the old master shoemaker said something was up. And in order to another master shoemakers, Jeremy got up, he squared his shoulders and he walked away down that aisle to the hard won that whole huge room, sensed something was up. There was not a sound. No one did a bit of work.

Sir, my friend is dying. I need 10 days off, everybody, he needs 10 days off, you walk out of here and you're fired. I came to the city to get rich if being rich means being like you, I don't want to be rich and you can't fire me, I quit. And Jeremy turned his back. He looked around, goodbye, everybody, and Jeremy started to walk down that long, long aisle as he did one of the oldest of the master, Schumann began to pound his boots on the floor. Don't do that. You're fired. Another, the master, Schoeman, began to pound his feet on the floor and then another and

another and another. Now, don't do that. I'll fire every one of you. All of the master Schoeman were pounding their feet in honor of Jeremy pounding away. Don't do it on fire. And then the Tollman began to pound their feet. And then the bowmen and the firemen and the stichman and the tongue man until the place was rocking. Don't to draw fire every one of you. A thousand butwell pounding away on fire. The owner, he came in and watched this and the hard one said, Everyone, you're all fired. The owner said, they're not fired. You're fired. And the thunder got louder and louder until it seemed that rocked the whole building. It was a wonderful Jeremy. He ran down the stairs and Jeremy ran across to our shop and bought a witling knife. He ran back to where Edward was asleep, and for the next ten days he whittled away and then he painted it up on Christmas Eve. It would set up Chris. Could be it would I have sent for you?

What do you think it's supposed to be? You with the blue hat? Well, I never looked better. Thank you, Jeremy. Edward died three hours later. The next day, Jeremy got the casket, six gold pieces. He got four men in a wagon and those men helped him dig the grave and lower the casket. They filled in the grave and the men were off and Jeremy was alone. He was holding the wooden figure of Edward that he had carved. One of Jeremy's tears fell on the. The blue had of the figure. Well, Edward would have been even better if Malia.

These kids from Penny. By. Jeremy left and he started home. It took them almost three weeks to get to the village. The sun was just coming up all he came out of the barn with two pails of milk and she looked up and there was Jeremy on the road. Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy, what a man you've become. He ran over on Molly. Molly, you look so beautiful. Molly, Jeremy look at you, Molly. I've been a cobbler. I've done quite well in the city. Molly. Molly. I thought you'd be Mrs. Cosgrove. So did I. Jeremy Nicky asked me a hundred times and every time I thought I'd say yes, Nicky, I always said no, Molly,

I don't suppose that girl would marry a cobbler. I think it depends on the girl and the cobbler. Well, if you were the girl. And who would the cobbler be? Jeremy. If I were a cobbler. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I'm having. And they were married. And I cobbler shop, it became the place that everyone in the village came into. Everyone would sit there and tell a story. The blacksmith could be found in Jeremy's cobbler shop and the miller could be found there and children. And Molly was always in there painting. And the years went by and Jeremy began to get a bit of a partners. His voice deepened and his beard turned white early in life. And what a place to be.

Jeremy and Molly married. And the only sadness and it was a great sadness was that they had no children. Thirty years, though, passed by quick as a whistle in the night. And then that day came when the door flew open and Jeremy's cobbler shop in the cold air rushed in. Nicky Cosgrove came in. He didn't bother to close the door and the cold air swirled around Nickie's plum coat. He'd come right from the bank that he owned. He leaned forward like a schoolmaster. Well, Jeremy, you've grown quite a belly, and indeed I have had. Nicky, you are handsome. Indeed I am. You know, I married late in life. You married late, and you had that wonderful daughter, Amy, seven. She's a beautiful child. Yes, she is. That's why I'm here. Jeremy, my daughter Amy has had this dream of a little merry go round. That's all wooden and you know, something you can hold in two hands all painted up. You wait, let Molly paint it. Ten gold pieces have it on Christmas.

That's her birthday. Listen, I really wish I could, but I can't. I was in a school house, you know, making sure the children of boots and all of a sudden I said to this little boy, I'm going to carve you up a little frog. And before I knew what I told sixty eight of the children is the list behind me. Two weeks of Christmas. I can't do it. Of course you can't do it. You tell the children you made a mistake and then you carve the merry go round for Amy. Fourteen gold pieces. Listen, I cannot do it, so I won't. Then I will never speak to you again. You haven't spoken to me in thirty years. I won't miss your conversation. An hour later, Amy Cosgrove skipped in where Amy calls Grove. You don't have to put the hiccup in my name or Amy. Your father told me about the dream and the merry go round. I want to tell you all about it every tiny bit. Will you do that? But I can't do it for you. You see the list behind me. I just can't do it. You don't have to do it this Christmas. You can do it any time.

Well, Amy, in that case, I'll do it now to three years. Three years from now. I will do that matter. Graham, for you. Just as he blew the lantern out that night, Molly flew into the shop, Jeremy, there's been an awful accident. You know, Amy Cosgrove, she was on the Ice Hill sledding hill, she hit a tree so hard, she's badly hurt, she's unconscious. She's saying over and over, you're going to make a merry go round on Christmas. Did you say that? I didn't. But all of us agreed three years from now, dear. Oh, Molly, I can't do it for I can't even do the sixty eight behind me at 68 children, I promise. Two weeks. Oh, Molly. What a pickle, Tammy. Jeremy, it's time to go to the blue people. Jeremy, he rubbed his eyes. He rubbed his whole face and finally he looked at my.

Yes, my. It's time for the blue people. Thank you. He turned and he didn't even get his coat, he hurried in the darkness through the snow all the way to the hill of the blue people, and he started up the hill. It was the old one who saw him coming, everyone. He's almost here, Jeremy. He's come back. He's come back. Everyone get the blue pipes. Let's hope he's finished the dream. Jeremy sat on the bench. All right, everyone below the blue smoke over Jeremy's head. I want lots of smoke. I think he has a very great train.

They kept blowing the blue smoke over his head. Keep it up. All right, look, everyone. I think he's finished the dream look, there are thousands of beautifully carved wooden toys. Look at how beautifully they're painted and look everyone in the upper part of the dream, all those stars and had in the bottom of the dream thousands of houses. And they're over there on the side of the dream. You see that sleigh with runners of starlight. He's done it, she barely clapped her hands when I finished, you have finished Gedman. It's a wonderful dream. Do you want to go into it? I do want to go into it, but I've got to get Molly. I'll be back before you know it, I promise you. And he was back before they knew what Molly was. She was way ahead of me running up to the snow. He was huffing and puffing behind. She turned. Jeremy, look, look. Way up there. Yes, my blue moon. Blue moon.

They sat in the red bench and the old one said, Everyone, listen, I want the red pipes. They got out the long red clay pipes. Now everyone below the red smoke over their heads. OK. Going into the three. Molly. What a bright new world this is. Look at all the snow and all of you wear yourselves. We've got almost everything down, even the 68 toys, but we would never do the merry go round. You've got to whittle it and Molly, you've got to paint it. And we need another name for you or another name. My name is Jeremy. Jeremy Claus.

Oh, no, you've done the dream. Now you need a name. Well, my friend Edward, he used to call presents and so you could call me Santa. That's it. Santa. Santa. All right. All right. Let's see the workshop. After all. I dreamt it up. Look at this. I look at it. Yes. Jeremy, smell the paint. Oh, it's wonderful. Or I. To which we've got to get busy. Molly, before they knew what it was. Christmas Eve. Holly out here. Santa put on that red suit. I don't need it. You do. Would be very cold tonight in the stars. Put it on, honey. We're awfully late. Well, look at this sleigh filled with toys. It is wonderful. What's wrong? Santa's. Oh, nothing. I had hoped to give presents to children everywhere or what I have in my hand is Blue Starlight, very little of it. I'm going to cast it up toward your eyes and you will see things. Others can't wait.

I see nothing different, nothing to look over there. Something appearing out of nowhere at all. It's a shame that's what it is. Look at all the toys. There is a second slave who doesn't know. There is another one of those where there must be 30 or 40 of them appearing. Now, that's wonderful. No, look over there. It must be 100 over there. Now, turn around. Santa behind. Whether the hundreds, hundreds of. It's astonishing now look above you. At a thousand. There are thousands of stories up there in the dark. All filled with priceless. Well, no, I'm worried about how I can deliver all

these toys. Tonight, Santa, you are Starlite, you are just like the starlight, you can go through a keyhole, you can go through the crack in a window, you can go down a chimney. Even if there's a fire that won't harm you. You are like the starlight tonight. But still, we've got to hurry, we've got to hurry, Santa, where I'm ready. The of Starlite round the globe. Lera Starlite all night through until a black has turned to blue. Happy Christmas.

Father Amy, Amy, Amy, said Amy to Amy, you look wonderful. I am Father. I'm fine. Look at the merry go round. Jeremy it Jeremy. No, he didn't. Amy Jeremy ran off two weeks ago. I know. He brought it all right. He appeared in the middle of the night. Do you mean Amy? I woke up and Jeremy was standing in the room with a great red suit. His cheeks were blazing. I can still hear his voice, Amy. I hope you like it. Molly painted it. They call me Santa now and I'm awfully busy. I've got to dash. By me, and he goes off like that, he disappeared five, I don't know how, Father. Nikki sat down, put his arm around Amy. Follow her around the window, and he was in a sleigh

pulled by reindeer right up in the night, I never heard him happier. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. The very best thing, Father, was the twinkle in his eye. Jeremy, a Christmas story was written and performed by Joe O'Calahan, produced and engineered by James Donahue and Carolee Brockman, our director was Doug Lipmann. The hand bells were played by Miss Elizabeth Bradford, a teacher and remarkable citizen of the world. Jeremy was recorded at the studios of WGBH Radio in Boston. We all wish you season's greetings and a very happy New Year.